Tommy Hilfiger's alpha moment came in the early '60s, when he started peddling bell-bottoms to middle-class kids who were looking to embrace the hippie spirit of the age. Obsessed with the burgeoning American music scene, in 1969 the 18-year-old opened his first store—the People's Place—in his hometown of Elmira, New York, before a slump in the economy forced him to shutter its doors in 1976. Humble beginnings for someone who now runs a company worth more than $3 billion, but through it all Hilfiger sure has put his money where his mouth is when it comes to his love of all things made in the USA.

This month, Hilfiger unveils his paean to fashion and pop culture with his new Fifth Avenue flagship, a renovation of a neoclassic building by iconic architects McKim, Mead, and White. In much the same way that the trio cleaned up the visual confusion of American cities at the turn of the twentieth century, Hilfiger plans on leaving nothing to the imagination when it comes to celebrating American style. "Everyone has a lane," Hilfiger says. "Mine may be more appropriate now than it ever was."

The 22,000-square-foot store promises to be a high-low Hall of Fame. Hilfiger's design team, along with Callison Architects, replaced the metal-etched steel facade that Fortunoff installed in the '70s with Indiana limestone, which is also used on the interior. Downstairs, the denim store will feature a collection of neon and folk art, including a peace sign made out of license plates from all 50 states. Rotating photography and art exhibits will be on display on the main floor, from which people can gaze up to the top. The men's and women's floors on the upper two levels are decorated with a veritable greatest-hits roster of midcentury modern furniture, with priceless finds from Herman Miller, George Nelson, Tommi Parzinger, and Milo Baughman that would make dealers at Broomfield apoplectic with envy; those and more traditional pieces and kitsch memorabilia will be on display everywhere. Clothes will hang on ebony clothing racks offset by bronze detailing and Brazilian wood floors. The pièce de résistance is a floating staircase that descends for three floors and is illuminated by LED lighting that will change color seasonally. Behind it will hang a red, white, and blue tribute "flag" made out of vintage paraphernalia, including everything from Jax sacks to chattering teeth, View-Masters, mini surfboards, guitar amps, a Native American headdress, and a 1960s Cadillac fender. The larger version even has a TV that will run old movies. "American style is all about making the classics accessible and affordable," Hilfiger says, later dropping Nancy Reagan and Faye Dunaway's names in the same sentence as examples of iconic American beauties. "It's gotta have attitude, and it's gotta be fun."

You could say Hilfiger's a man with a patriotic mission, hell-bent on waving the flag of American style, not just up and down Fifth Avenue but the world over, in much the same way that Patton rolled his tanks through Europe. "We've opened over 897 stores worldwide in the last 10 years," he says, noting that George C. Scott's spoof of himself as Patton playing Gen. Buck Turgidson in Dr. Strangelove is one of the designer's favorite cinematic moments. Fashion has always been a platform for Hilfiger to access and explore the worlds of music, art, and entertainment, with his summer rock concerts and Hilfiger Audition and Sessions series, not to mention his publishing efforts. (His books include Rock Style, Iconic America, and a rare monograph of Sam Haskins photographs, titled Sam Haskins Fashion Etcetera, due out this month.) "I'm obsessed with fashion, art, music, and entertainment and how it all goes together," he says, emphasizing the resulting acronym. "F-A-M-E. Those who celebrate it and indulge it are my heroes."

But with the opening of his global flagship, Hilfiger will actually be the only American designer on Fifth Avenue (the rest are on Madison Avenue or in Chelsea or in SoHo), amid a strip of European labels and lower-price-point knockoff stores. This suits Hilfiger fine. After all, Europe, Japan, and the rest of Asia are where, after a bit of an identity crisis in the late '90s, his company became one of the most coveted brands overseas. "We take colors from pop art and put them into the sportswear or take elements from punk and work them into the jeanswear," says the 58-year-old father of four (with one on the way) and collector of more than 50 vintage American flags. "It's very popular."